<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Comparative Mythography by Evergreen (ExLibrisNoctis)</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29025258">Comparative Mythography</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExLibrisNoctis/pseuds/Evergreen'>Evergreen (ExLibrisNoctis)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, No Sex</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:27:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,827</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29025258</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExLibrisNoctis/pseuds/Evergreen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A nuisance beast brings Draco Malfoy to Hermione Granger’s office in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Comparative Mythography</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hermione sat in her darkened office with a cold rag draped over her face. She didn't consider herself to be a drinker, but a family get together with her cousins the night before had gotten out of hand and now here she was, thoroughly hung over and breaking every rule she'd ever made for herself regarding professionalism. Unfortunately for her head, hangover potions didn't work for Muggle alcohol so she was stuck using Muggle remedies. She fiercely hoped that a glass of water, two paracetamol and a quiet morning would set her to rights.</p><p>A commotion erupted in the waiting area of her office. She heard her secretary speaking loudly - but not quite arguing, she noted, pleased - with someone who was speaking even more loudly and WAS arguing. So much for my quiet morning, she thought.</p><p>Her secretary's face popped up above her desk, startling her. "Ms. Granger, there is a Mr. Malfoy here to see you. He is quite insistent."</p><p>Hermione removed the wet rag and vanished it wandlessly. "You may as well send him in, Melanie. You'll never get rid of him otherwise and I'm tired of listening to him yell at you through the wall." Melanie's face disappeared with a pop. Hermione wondered if her secretary knew what paracetamol was, or even better, if she had some. In the years since the second war it had become taboo to ask about someone's birth status, and Hermione had no idea if the woman was Pureblood or not.</p><p>After the War, Hermione had turned her interest in house elves into a career and joined the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, where she currently worked in the Nuisance Beast division. The middle management position she held there wasn’t the heroic save-the-world career that she might have wanted in childhood - “one step above muggle dog catcher” was how Harry had put it - but she’d had more than enough heroism to last a lifetime.<br/>
Her job came with her own secretary, a private office with her name on the door, and the ability to leave her work at work when she went home at night.</p><p>“I’ve been waiting half the morning to get something done about an animal, it’s a menace and I want it gone!” spat Draco Malfoy as he stalked into her office. Upon seeing her he froze for half a heartbeat, surprise flickering across his face. “Ms. Granger.” he said.</p><p>It was to be the formal approach, then. “Mr. Malfoy.” she replied coolly.</p><p>Hermione looked him over as he stood stiffly just inside her office door. Apparently he hadn’t bothered to read the nameplate before barging in. “Why don’t you have a seat and tell me exactly what the problem is, and I’ll see if it’s something our department can help you with.”</p><p>It had been years since Hermione had seen Draco Malfoy. Even after Malfoy was no longer on house arrest he kept to the grounds of his family manor, and had rarely been seen in public. The media attention had eventually died down, and he enjoyed a slide into obscurity that Hermione envied. Every now and then she’d seen a blip about him in The Daily Prophet, but without much grist for the mill he’d been relegated to the inner pages.</p><p>He now sat before her, clearly agitated. The tall, slender boy she remembered had grown into a tall, lean man with the same pointed face and hard grey eyes. He wore a charcoal robe over a pair of light grey woolen slacks and a white linen dress shirt. His hair had darkened from platinum to ash blonde but he still had it cut in much the same way. At least he’d stopped using as much hair gel.</p><p>Draco popped his tongue and scowled, then said, “A unicorn has taken up residence on the grounds of my family property. The damned thing is attacking me every time I attempt to go outside! It must be removed.”</p><p>“You’re looking remarkably… ungored for the victim of a unicorn attack, Mr. Malfoy,” Hermione remarked dryly. “They're not known for unprovoked aggression. Our department cannot remove the animal simply because it is inconvenient for you to have it there.”</p><p>Draco began to turn an ugly shade of pink. “What are you implying, Ms. Granger?”</p><p>“I’m implying nothing, I’m making a statement.” Hermione sighed. The man was as infuriating as ever. She continued, “We can’t relocate the creature without exploring other solutions first. I can send an investigator out to assess the situation and we can go from there.”</p><p>“When?” Draco’s face was expressionless, his eyes flat and unreadable. He leaned back in his chair.</p><p>Hermione silently summoned her day planner from her handbag. After studying it for a few moments she said, “Will you be available to meet the investigator on Wednesday at 2pm? It looks like I have someone available then.”</p><p>“Yes, I suppose that will have to do. I’ll be home.” Malfoy stood to go.</p><p>“Wait a minute,” Hermione rushed. “How have you been? I haven’t seen you since… since the inquest.”</p><p>He smiled tightly. “I’ve been as well as can be expected,” he said, then turned and left the office.</p><p>***</p><p>Hermione was livid. No one, not a single one of her investigative team had been willing to step foot on Malfoy property! She supposed she could have ordered one of them to do it but the risk of an incident was too great. Post-war animosity for the sole remaining member of Malfoy family ran very deep.</p><p>Although Hermione herself had more reason than any of them to hate the man, she found it difficult to muster up the emotional energy to do so. Both of his parents were dead, two more casualties of the horrific final battle. She had testified in his defense at his inquest and, truth be told, had probably had a lot to do with the relatively light sentencing that he received for his involvement with Voldemort. After a two year period of house arrest he was a free man as well as a social pariah. He presumably had something left to his name even after the vast sum paid out from the Malfoy family vaults in war reparations, since he didn’t work at any job that she knew about.</p><p>Although Hermione didn’t hate him, she certainly had no reason to like him. Still, she knew that she was more than capable of performing her job in the matter… as long as she didn’t have to enter the Manor itself. It was for this reason that she apparated to a point just outside the front gate of the manor rather than traveling by floo.</p><p>The gate contorted into a face upon her arrival, but opened to her without comment. The path ahead was flanked by tall hedges that completely blocked her view of the grounds, so she had no choice but to look at the manor house itself as she approached. Her mouth was dry, heart racing. Fists clenched, she marched down the stone path to the front door and knocked sharply before her anxiety could overwhelm her determination.</p><p>After what felt like an eternity, the door swung open on oiled hinges.</p><p>“Ms. Granger… please come in.” Malfoy said, opening the door wide enough so that Hermione could see the foyer before quickly looking away.</p><p>“Mr. Malfoy, please don’t take this the wrong way… but I’d rather conduct our business outside.” She flicked her eyes toward him, then away, desperately hoping that he wouldn’t push the issue.</p><p>Malfoy looked at her, noting her paleness, her shaking hands which she tried unsuccessfully to hide by holding her hands tightly at her side, at the way she looked everywhere but at him.</p><p>“My apologies,” he said quietly, stepping outside onto the porch and shutting the front door firmly behind him. “I’m surprised you chose to come in person given our… history.”</p><p>Hermione’s mouth tightened. “All of my agents were otherwise occupied.”</p><p>Draco raised his eyebrows, looking into her face. Hermione looked away. “I see,” he said. “Well, let’s get down to business, shall we? The unicorn.”</p><p>Draco indicated that she follow him down a white gravel path and the two of them set out. “There’s a large thicket on the southernmost part of the grounds. The unicorn seems to spend most of its time lurking around there.”</p><p>“When did you first notice it?” asked Hermione. She felt herself relax a little more with each step they took down the path and away from the manor. It was warm for late spring, and Hermione had worn her favorite summer robes in anticipation of spending time outside. Once they got away from the hedge bordered formal gardens in front of the house the land opened up before them into rolling meadow. The gravel path turned towards a large, low slung stone building but the two continued straight on through the soft grass. Hermione could see at least a kilometer of meadow between them and the thicket that they were walking in the direction of, and she was suddenly glad she’d worn comfortable shoes.</p><p>“A week ago I believe.” replied Draco. Today he had forgone his robe, but still wore a long sleeved shirt buttoned all the way to the throat and at the wrists despite the warmth of the late spring day. “I enjoy walking the grounds and through the forest when the weather allows. It’s presence has forced me to change that somewhat.” His mouth tightened.</p><p>“What is the unicorn doing to force you to change your routine?” asked Hermione.</p><p>Draco looked at her sharply. “It attacks me, Ms. Granger. As we discussed on Monday.”</p><p>“Yes, you did say that.”</p><p>Draco did not elaborate further and the two continued on in increasingly heavy silence. “Is that a stable?” said Hermione, desperately seeking to break the tension that had fallen between them.</p><p>Draco paused his march across the meadow and turned to look back at the building in question. It was long and low with a series of windows running along each side. “One of my great great uncles preferred keeping horses to keeping peacocks. Lipizzaners, I believe. My grandmother had the old stables converted into living quarters while my father was in Hogwarts.”</p><p>“Was there any particular reason for that?” asked Hermione.</p><p>“I’ve been told that my father was an unbearable prat as a teenager,” said Draco, “Like father, like son, right Ms. Granger?” He watched her out of the corner of his eye, his mouth twisted into a half smirk. Hermione snorted and looked away quickly.</p><p>“Yes, Mr. Malfoy, I do seem to recall there being a strong family resemblance…”</p><p>Draco looked directly at her for a moment, then continued, “You can call me Draco, you know. We’re hardly strangers at this point, and I know we’ve called each other worse things than our first names.”</p><p>Hermione barked out laughter, surprised. “Yes, Draco, we certainly have. Call me Hermione then.” Draco smiled at her briefly, and the pair continued on across the meadow. The heavy silence that had fallen between them seemed lighter with the distance between them bridged a bit.</p><p>***</p><p>Hermione saw twinkling movement along the edge of the forest as they approached. Draco must have as well, because he halted in his tracks and thrust an elbow out to stop her.</p><p>“Oh…” was all that Hermione could think to say. It was beautiful, as all unicorns were, and the sun glinted metallic off its coat. It was a rich cream color, darkening to true gold on the legs and face. It’s horn was short, less than a hand’s breadth in length. It must be a young one, thought Hermione. That would explain its sudden appearance here, a young unicorn seeking territory away from its parent herd would want the security that a large magical estate offered.</p><p>But why would it attack a human? They’re not known to be aggressive unless provoked... Hermione looked over at Malfoy. He was standing tense next to her, mouth and eyes hard. His wand was in his hand.</p><p>“Put it away, Draco,” she snapped. He looked at her incredulously.</p><p>“What? Am I not allowed to defend myself on my own property!”</p><p>“Maybe that’s been the problem all along,” she hissed in reply. “Maybe it’s been interpreting your defensiveness as readiness to attack.” Draco scowled, but put the wand away.</p><p>The unicorn had stopped its progress towards them to watch carefully as they argued, but continued once Draco’s wand was safely tucked back into his robes. Soon it was within 10 meters of them, then 5 meters, and then it was there snuffling at Hermione's empty hands while looking up at her with dark, bottomless eyes.</p><p>“I’m sorry that I didn’t bring anything for you,” she said quietly, smiling. After a moment she slowly extended a hand and ran her fingers up it’s neck and through through its mane. The unicorn stood with half lidded eyes, enjoying the gentle contact. She chanced a quick look at Draco, who was watching the progress of her fingers as they stroked and scratched their way through the unicorn’s coat. His expression was inscrutable.</p><p>“Perhaps if you tried touching it like this,” Hermione again ran her fingers through the spun gold fluff of its mane to demonstrate. “You two could get to know each other a little better. I know they prefer women to men, but it doesn’t seem aggressive. Maybe there’s been a misunderstanding between the two of you.”</p><p>Draco hesitantly extended a hand in the unicorn’s direction, then dropped it back to his side. Hermione slipped her hand around his wrist and placed it on the unicorn’s neck. Tentatively at first, Draco wound his fingers through its mane. One slow pass, then two.</p><p>The unicorn's eyes snapped open and focused on him.</p><p>“Keep petting his neck, but let him smell your other hand,” Hermione said softly. She stepped back and away from the unicorn to give him room.</p><p>Draco stepped a bit closer, offering the hand that wasn’t working the unicorn’s mane. The unicorn inhaled in sharp, snorting bursts. It stepped in closer toward him. Too close.</p><p>Before either of them could react, the unicorn shoved into Draco with one shoulder, bowling him over. He fell back into the grass, landing on his back and sputtering with outrage as he scrambled to right himself. As Hermione looked on in horror, the unicorn fell to its knees in front of Draco and lay its head gently in his lap.</p><p>Oh.</p><p>OH.</p><p>Hermione’s hand rose to cover her mouth in horror as she looked at Draco, who sat pinned to the ground by the unicorn’s head, and then at the unicorn that was gazing dreamily back up at Draco. Was it fluttering its eyelashes at him? By god it was. This was bad. This was SO bad.</p><p>“This is what I was telling you about! THIS is what it does! Every time the damned thing spots me it throws me into the dirt and does this!” Draco gestured toward his lap full of unicorn with the hand that he wasn’t using to prop himself up with. The unicorn gazed up at him with eyes full of dopey admiration.</p><p>Seeing no acceptable path forward, Hermione chose retreat. The air rang with the thunderous crack of her escape.</p><p>***</p><p>For the second time in a week Hermione found herself breaking personal rules about professionalism as she scrabbled through a bottom drawer in her desk. Aha! she thought, wrapping her hands around the neck of a bottle of firewhiskey that had lain neglected since the Christmas before. She’d been furious when Pucey had stolen her pizza slice sleeping bag at the department’s annual white elephant exchange, but now she sent up a silent thanks to him as she spun the lid off the bottle.</p><p>Fortified, she turned to her office reference library and quickly selected the books she needed, then waited. It didn’t take long.</p><p>Malfoy stormed into her office, cutting off Melanie’s outraged protests as he wandlessly slammed the door behind him. His face was white, his eyes hard. The elbows of his shirt were grass stained, and the fronts of his thighs were covered in a layer of dirt and what could only be unicorn hair.</p><p>“How dare you… how DARE you leave me at the mercy of that animal!” As he yelled,, an ugly red flush rose up from his collar to his cheekbones. “If you weren’t already at one of the lowest levels of this department I’d ensure you were demoted for this. When I get done you’ll be lucky to retain employment.” He stopped, glaring at her with all the fury of the 14 year old boy she had once known. Hermione glared right back at him, childishly refusing to look away.</p><p>Melanie’s face appeared above her desk. “Is everything ok in there? Do you need me to…”</p><p>Hermione broke eye contact with Draco and replied calmly, “Everything is fine, Melanie. Just a... misunderstanding.” Melanie looked skeptical, but her disembodied face disappeared with a pop and the two were again alone in Hermione’s office.</p><p>Draco began to sputter again, and Hermione held up a finger to silence him.</p><p>“Take a moment to listen, Mr. Malfoy,” she said.</p><p>“Oh, back to that again are we?” said Draco, rolling his eyes. He threw himself into the chair in front of her desk and crossed his arms over his chest.</p><p>Hermione ignored him and continued. “If you value your privacy as much as I think you do, you’ll keep this incident between the two of us. In fact, I’d recommend that you ask me not to turn in my report since they’re publicly accessible.”</p><p>Draco still glared at her, but it was clear that he was listening.</p><p>Hermione looked down at the three books sitting on her desk blotter and sighed. “I know that the Hogwarts curriculum only covers the basics of unicorn behavior, but what happened to you today is not unknown. You were in no danger, and you weren’t being attacked.”</p><p>“My tailbone begs to differ, Ms. Granger,” he drawled.</p><p>“Be that as it may, the unicorn acts as it does toward you for reasons that you may consider quite personal. I have a few books here that you may find to be of interest…”</p><p>“Typical…” snorted Draco, rolling his eyes.</p><p>Ignoring him, Hermione slid two books across the desk towards Draco, holding back the third. “This title,” she tapped on Unbroken : A Primer on Unicorn Husbandry by Ginger Sweetwater, “should provide you with the practical information that you need. It will also offer some insight into the changes you need to make to your estate to encourage the unicorn to leave. This one,” she tapped on The Allegory of The Unicorn by Bev Everglade, “contains the same information as the first, but from a literary standpoint rather than practical.”</p><p>Draco uncrossed his arms and leaned forward in his seat, taking both books as she slid them across the desk to him. He frowned as he looked at each title, but said nothing. His eyes were still flat and hard but the high color in his face had retreated. Draco had gotten himself back under control, but he was clearly far from happy.</p><p>“What’s that third one?” he said tightly.</p><p>Hermione drew the book back to herself for a moment, then slid it across the table - The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. She kept her hand on the book. “This one… I just like it. It’s Muggle literature. You don’t have to take it.”</p><p>Draco looked into her face for a long moment. “Why not,” he sighed, leaning forward and taking the third book. With that he stood, tucking all three books under his elbow as he strode out of her office without a word.</p><p>When the door softly clicked shut behind him Hermione threw herself back in her office chair with a long, shuddering sigh. She raked both hands through her hair, stopping halfway back to rub her scalp and thoroughly mussing the bun she’d tied it back in that morning. She could not imagine a more uncomfortable situation then the one she was in right now. There were some things that a witch just did not want to know. And besides, they were both well into their 20’s! She’d always assumed he had found time during their Hogwarts days to do things other than skulking around and sneering… well, prior to Sixth Year at least. He and Parkinson had seemed so close! She knew that wizard sexual education was abysmal and their attitudes on the whole subject tended to be a bit prudish but... really?</p><p>To make matters worse, she was going to have to see him again when he returned her books.</p><p>***</p><p>Thankfully, the Sweetwater and Everglade titles were waiting on her desk for her when she returned to work on Monday. The note on top of them read in elegant copperplate :</p><p>I withdraw my complaint.<br/>
-DM</p><p>Hermione burned both the note and the report.</p><p>***</p><p>Three weeks later Draco again appeared in her office, this time looking petulant rather than furious.</p><p>“Did you enjoy the book?” asked Hermione as she stood to greet him, unable to keep the smugness out of her voice.</p><p>“I found myself unable to put it down.” he replied dryly, extending the hand holding the book toward her.</p><p>Hermione reached out and grasped the book. At her touch, a thin band of white light ran over the cover and Draco withdrew his hand, shaking it.</p><p>“That’s an interesting spell,” he said with something that wasn’t quite amusement.</p><p>“Just a little something I came up with back at Hogwarts,” replied Hermione, running her fingers possessively over the books’ cover. “A way to ensure that my personal library remained intact.”</p><p>She opened the front cover and turned the book around to show him the book plate. It featured a woodcut illustration of a pair of crossed wands with the words Ex Libris written above them. Hermione Jean Granger was written below the woodcut.</p><p>“Out of curiousity, what would have happened if I’d gone about my day with that book stuck to my hand?” Draco said as he examined the bookplate.</p><p>“If the book was still stuck to your hand tomorrow there’d have been a stinging effect to provide a bit more incentive. The effect would be compounded every 12 hours.” Hermione snapped the book shut and put it away into her desk.</p><p>Draco snorted, then said, “I actually did enjoy the book, by the way. It wasn’t what I expected. Thank you.”</p><p>Hermione weighed his words and found no shades of meaning or hidden insult in them. “You’re very welcome, Draco. Is there anything else I can help you with?”</p><p>“Oh no, I don’t think I’ll be needing the assistance of your department after all. Have a nice day.”</p><p>He had the audacity to wink at her before turning and leaving her office.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is my first completed attempt at writing. I may try to expand on it later, but hopefully it stands well enough on its own. </p><p>I have no beta, so any grammatical/spelling errors are my own.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>